Japan wants to mend ties with South Korea: Japan PM

Japan is seeking to improve its relations with South Korea through a trilateral meeting in the Netherlands, the country's Prime Minster Shinzo Abe said Sunday.

The trilateral meeting involving Japan's Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, US President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, on the sidelines of the March 24 and 25 Nuclear Security Summit, will mark the first face-to-face meeting between Abe and Park since they took office more than a year ago, Xinhua reported.

Abe said before leaving for The Hague that he expected the trilateral meeting "to become the first step to establish future-oriented Japan-South Korea relations".

Bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea were strained due to Japan's attitude toward its wartime history and a territorial dispute.